1.
There is considerable variation among atheists
in issues that are not God focused.
2.
Most atheists see God through the lens of the theistic
society from which they have emerged. Although it sounds ridiculous there are
clear distinctions between Jewish, Christian and Muslim Atheists.
3.
From personal observation Christian atheists
focus on the divinity of Christ, Jewish atheists struggle with the notion of
God and the Holocaust and Muslim atheists take issue with the excesses in the
Quran.
4.
For most atheists opposition to the notion of
God is generally directed at a theistic God. Many atheists are not even aware
of the deistic God.
5.
A smaller
sub-section of atheists are opposed to the entire notion of God itself. They
see the concept as meaningless.
6.
Not all atheists take a militant position
against theism. It is my experience that those who do often (but not always)
come from a religious fundamentalist background.
7.
While the majority of atheists seem to have a
positive attitude towards science this is not always the case. I have come
across many atheists who have substituted a lack of belief in a God with some
New Age Belief System.
8.
Most atheists tend to be left or center left
with respect to the American political dynamic but there are a considerable
amount of Right Leaning Libertarians who are atheists as well. I suspect
opposition to existing institutions and norms may frame some of these
positions.
9.
Many atheists (especially the philosophical
types) seem to be intelligent but again this is not always the case. Some
appear to be well read but this is after masked by selective mining of the
relevant literature (theists can be just as guilty).
10.
Conservative Atheists do exist. Many take solace
in Burke’s notion of the transcendent which they often see in the form of the
Great Institutions of Western Civilization.
11.
Just like theists/deists there are good and bad
people among atheists.
12.
Many philosophical atheists use a secular
version of the Golden Rule to guide their moral decisions. Others have adopted
philosophical positions from Kant, Mill, Rawls and Nozick.
13.
Many people have been driven towards atheism by
the actions of Theistic Extremists eg. 911, and other types of religious
inspired violence etc.
14.
Atheists tend to replace a belief in God with a
belief in another type of transcendent. For those on the left it is usually
humanism and/or a version of a political belief system that is largely
collectivist. Libertarian atheists often opt for the Individual and the notion
of liberty.
15.
Individuals growing up in countries with a
strong atheist population (Sweden, Norway, Estonia etc) have more of a
complacency about their atheism than those living in countries with a stronger
theistic base such as the US or the nations of the Middle east.
16.
Many atheistic arguments derive from the
writings of David Hume and Bertrand Russell. Richard Dawkins in particular
relies heavily on Russell.
17.
When push comes to shove most Atheists are
Agnostic as opposed to Gnostic with respect to their position on God. They do
however vary with degree.
18.
It is a waste of time debating with hardcore
atheists. Scientific debates always come down to the nature of evidence and the
notion of material reductionism. There is virtually no impasse beyond this.
19.
When faced with a weak theist opponent Atheist
debaters will often resort to mockery. Many theists set themselves up for this.
20.
Atheists belonging to the Anti-Theist
sub-grouping all too often use a literal reading of the Theistic Texts in an
argument. Against weaker theistic opponents this is effective but when up
against tougher opposition (check out Harris v Prager) it can backfire.
21.
Some atheists actually see religion as necessary
for the masses but not for themselves per se. Not every atheist believes in
throwing the shared religious heritage out the door.
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